§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the labelling by country of origin of meat sold in the United Kingdom. [137281]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonI have been asked to reply.
European Union rules require country of origin labelling for fresh or frozen veal and beef cuts and veal and beef mince sold prepacked or non-prepacked. For other meats, and for processed veal and beef, country of origin need not be given unless failure to do so might mislead a purchaser as to its true origin. Where origin information is given voluntarily it must not be false or misleading.
The Food Standards Agency has issued guidance notes for industry and enforcement authorities, which emphasise the need to ensure that origin labels are clearly worded to avoid misleading consumers, for example by applying 'British' labelling to products like ham or bacon prepared from imported meat.
The Government are pressing at EU level for compulsory origin labelling on all meats and some meat products, and for tighter controls on misleading origin declarations. It welcomes the European Commission's identification of rules on origin labelling as one of the key issues to be considered in its current review of EU labelling rules.